THE CLUPEA HARENGIS. 237 



have caught them, combined with the researches of zoolo- 

 gists, to that of an industrious author, whose sole observa- 

 tions are made in his private study, and are either the pro- 

 duce of his own fertile imagination or the hypothesis of 

 some writer whose name Mr. Mudie has kept a secret. 

 What Mr. M. has stated may sometimes occur, but it is in- 

 correct to consider it as a general principle. The follow- 

 ing are his observations on this subject: " The herring," he 

 says, " come to the shores and estuaries (of the warmer lati- 

 tudes) in order to mature and propagate their spawn, which 

 they do over a greater range of the year than most other 

 fish, continuing the operation to the middle of winter, and 

 retiring into deeper water after that is done. But there is 

 no reason to conclude that they have much migration in 

 latitude, or that they ever move far from those shores 

 which they frequent in the season. The fry too are found 

 on the shores, and in the bays and estuaries frequented by 

 their parents; and they do not go into the deep water until 

 late in the season. They even appear to go farther up the 

 rivers than the old fish, for they may be taken in brackish 

 water, with a common trout-fly." 



Towards the end of June, herrings are in full roe, conti- 

 nuing in full perfection until the commencement of winter. 

 In fact, there is an old adage, " That the roes disappear 

 after the ninth of November" the day on which the Lord 

 Mayor of London enters on his duties as chief magistrate. 

 This assertion is, however, incorrect, as I have, and in all 

 probability many thousands besides, eaten them so late as 

 December. The young herrings approach the shores in 

 the months of July and August, and are then from half an 

 inch to two inches in length. Few young herrings being 

 discovered in our seas during winter, it is generally sup- 

 posed that they return to their native haunts beneath the 

 ice, in order to repair the vast destruction of their race in 

 the summer. Some old ones continue on our coasts the 

 whole year, but the number is very inconsiderable. 



